FREEDOM

IRFA IMPLEMENTATION
IRFA’s Purpose and Main Provisions
The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA)
was a landmark piece of legislation, seeking to make
religious freedom a higher priority in U.S. foreign policy.
Congress passed IRFA unanimously in October 1998
and President Bill Clinton signed it into law the same
month. Members of Congress believed that this core
human right was being ignored and that it deserved a
greater emphasis. Rather than creating a hierarchy of
rights as some critics have argued, IRFA established
parity, ensuring that U.S. policymakers would consider
religious freedom alongside other pressing issues and
other human rights, and not neglect it.
IRFA sought to accomplish this in several ways.
First, it created special government mechanisms. Inside
the executive branch, the law created the position of
Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom
(a political appointee nominated by the President
and confirmed by the Senate), to head an Office of International
Religious Freedom at the State Department (the
IRF Office). It also urged the appointment of a Special
Adviser for this issue on the White House National
Security Council staff. Outside the executive branch,
IRFA created USCIRF, an independent body mandated
to review religious freedom conditions globally and
make recommendations for U.S. policy to the President,
Secretary of State, and Congress.
Second, IRFA required monitoring and reporting.
It mandated that the State Department prepare
an annual report on religious freedom conditions in
each foreign country (the IRF Report), in addition to
the Department’s annual human rights report. The
law also required the State Department to maintain
a religious freedom Internet site and lists of religious
prisoners in foreign countries. Additionally, it required
that USCIRF issue its own annual report, setting forth
its findings on religious freedom violations and providing
independent policy recommendations.
IRFA’S CPC STANDARD
IRFA defines “particularly severe” violations of
religious freedom as “systematic, ongoing, egregious
violations of religious freedom, including violations
such as—(A) torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading
treatment or punishment; (B) prolonged detention
without charges; (C) causing the disappearance of
persons by the abduction or clandestine detention of
those persons; or (D) other flagrant denial of the right
to life, liberty, or the security of persons.”
Third, IRFA established consequences for the
worst violators. The law requires the President – who
has delegated this power to the Secretary of State – to
designate annually “countries of particular concern,”
or CPCs, and take action designed to encourage
improvements in those countries. CPCs are defined
as countries whose governments either engage in or
tolerate “particularly severe” violations of religious
freedom. A menu of possible actions is available, ranging
from negotiating a bilateral agreement, to imposing
sanctions, to taking a “commensurate action,” to issuing
a waiver. While a CPC designation remains in effect
until removed, actions tied to a CPC action expire after
two years, if not renewed.
Fourth, IRFA included religious freedom as an element
of U.S. foreign assistance, cultural exchange, and
international broadcasting programs.
Fifth, IRFA mandated that State Department
Foreign Service Officers and U.S. immigration officials
receive training on religious freedom and religious
persecution. It also required immigration officials to
use the State Department’s annual IRF Report as a
resource in adjudicating asylum and refugee claims
involving religious persecution.
Finally, IRFA sought assessments of whether 1996
immigration law reforms were being implemented
USCIRF | ANNUAL REPORT 2016 9